The banquet room at Tiffanys has been used as a filming location for Pennsylvania Lottery commercials. December 10, 2014. But it felt like home. interested in a peak at early aughts dining, the restaurants . Philadelphia's culinary world has long turned heads nationwide, only to bask in the spotlight once again when the prestigious 2022 James Beard Awards named 16 local chefs and restaurants as semifinalists. Seen here in 1993 during a bus tour of the regions diners sponsored by the Society of Commercial Archeology, the sale of the 1940 Paramount attracted a great deal of interest, but ultimately no takers. How could we not love this place? Little PetesClosed in: 2017The iconic 24-hour diner at 17th and Chancellor was one of the dwindling number of places in the heart of Center City where folks from all walks of life could congregate over a plate of scrapple or corned beef. This isnt a food review. My family worked and owned these places so any info and or photos would be much appreciated. Cocaine! The idea brought about national attention and before long books about diners appeared, photorealism paintings of diners sold in Soho galleries for $50,000, and brands wanted to shoot their commercials in a real diner. Map. Being a Jersey boy, he has food memories that are rooted in the Garden State. Order Online. The former Boulevard Dinernow called theFive Star Dineris all glass and steel and looks like a small, Reagan Era officebuilding. A million dollars later, the end result today includes a craft beer shop that sells over 450 brands and a well-designed dining area that preservesthe streamlined atmosphere of the original Mountain View-manufactured diner. PEOPLE OFTEN FEEL sorry for me because they assume Center City wasnt a real neighborhood. But amid the onslaught of new restaurants opening all over the city year after year, there are the fallen soldiers: old-school spots that got priced out due to rising rents, hotshot chefs whose ambition outstripped their business sense (or maybe just their luck), and concepts that made great food but, for whatever reason, just didnt take. On the other hand, dont count on it being there forever. Accessible,welcoming spots like Little Petes pump the lifeblood of a city, and it seems like there are fewer and fewer of them every year. Talula's Garden, opened in 2011 at Washington Square, is an upscale restaurant inspired by locally produced ingredients, prepared in sync with the season. Yet I sometimes miss the grimy Center City of my youth. Its likely thatno other builder constructed more diners than Jerry OMahony. Sbraga told him he had fond memories of dining with his family at the Pub in Pennsauken, N.J. during the 1980s. As late as the 60s, they were all over the northwest suburbs in Montgomery county: Hatboro, Horsham, Willow Grove, Glenside, and many others. An estimated area population of 1,204,799 in 1937 was served by 120 hotels. Given the extent of his investments along the corridor, I dont think youll find anyone who has made a bigger bet on its comeback. That would be so bad for me some 50 years later. Heavily remodeled 50s-style diner that currently serves Asian food. In July 1928, 681 Cleveland restaurants were feeding an average of 300,000 people daily. The point is, it was plenty neighborhoody. Quaker Diner in Five Points on Rising Sun Avenue. Love Your article and thank you for doing the research. It was anything but. At one time, the mere word diner meant among other things that it never closed. I hope the place has gotten better since then, Im not going to spend my money or time to find out. Everyone take care! a diner is a prefabricated food-service structure. Djangos homespun chic vibe and killer cheese plate signaled what was to come. When I lived near it (2002-2004), the Oak Lane was under original ownership, managed by a young man from the family who had it since 1946. So why do I miss the dirty, second-rate downtown I grew up in? I want people to live here, to thrive here. The restaurants 2002 The Big Greek Diner typically gives you a lot of food for the money. When built, the few remaining companies produced restaurants in confused styles, but no one held a candle to some of the creations that came out of the Kullman factory. For anyone unaware of the state of one of the countrys most recognizable cultural icons, the diner, the Oak Lane Diner, in North Philadelphia, currently provides a clue. Since 1969, restaurant, hotel, travel & other witty reviews by a handpicked, The award-winning restaurant's unique dining style is a collaboration between celebrated restaurateur Stephen Starr and Aimee Olexy. National retailers like Intermix and Michael Kors are coming to Walnut Street, where rents soar above the national average. Manufacturing was collapsing, the population was falling, and the tax base was turning to dust. Maybe the Big Greek Diner doesnt earn superlatives, but if you come with a group of people who cant come to any kind of culinary consensus, nothing fits the bill better than this. We won't fault you for getting misty-eyed over these failed fast-food chain restaurants from the 1980s. Or that the chef erred on the salty side with the otherwise tender pot roast? They tortured me and my friends during grade school because we had no choice but to encroach on their turf: Our school was at 25th and Lombard, and recess was at their park. Philly's dance-club scene set for a comeback. I recall the interior being quite well preserved with lots of old details; it reminded me of the pre-Michael Mayfair diner actually. The iconic, streamlined style fell from fashion or was outright prohibited by municipal design codes by the mid-1960s. All the golden goddesses! The diner was originally built by Fodero of Bloomfield, New Jersey. It was replaced with a stainless chrome and larger diner about 1949-50. closure took with it the title for worlds largest indoor lobster tank and a retro At each visit, I had good, serviceable comfort food, and except for that run-in with the brutish manager I experienced friendly, efficient service. Steel's, Finelli's and Dooner's were among the exclusive drinking resorts of the early eighties. Yeah, theres Delco and Jersey on either side of the city, but still a major American city needs the accessibility, affordability, and history that a solidlong-lived diner can provide. http://www.houstonpress.com/arts/no-it-s-not-your-opinion-you-re-just-wrong-updated-7611752, You would be better served by using classic instead of real, Another great diner is 4 Seasons on Cottman and Blvd. I remember going there as a kid with my dad and grandfather. Putting one in a museum is all well and good, but if you cant actually eat there whats the point? The diner has its own history that stretches back to the 1870s when food vendor Walter Scott in Providence, Rhode Island modifiedhis horse-drawn freight wagon into something akin to modern day food cartsand trucks seen all over Center Citya small vehiclefrom which hot meals are dispensed. The Franklin Institute, but his biggest contribution to the city has to be The Olde Bar, located in Philadelphia's landmark Old Original Bookbinder's, is a contemporary oyster bar and cocktail lounge steeped in the city's nautical and culinary traditions. Crime spiked. Center City Philadelphia has exclusive retail, superb restaurants, imposing new skyscrapers. Years later I moved to Roborough and became a semiregular. The Frazer is certainly one of the oldest examples of a pristine OMahony, but I could probably list at least a half dozen others that are in similarly pristine condition. Does she imagine shes in some sophisticated, classy city? But the retail counter was nixed and replaced with a full-service bar 2013 andearlier this year, the conceptbecame one of the surprisingly few casualties in Garces Groups recent restructuring due to outstanding debts. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. Since 1969, restaurant, hotel, travel & other witty reviews by a handpicked, worldwide team of discerning professionalsand your views, too. Weinstein topped off the whole project with a neon sign almost worthy of the Las Vegas strip, something few do anymore. A DeLorean is no longer necessary to return to the golden age of MTV and the Brat Pack. The original porcelain panels with Oak Lane Diner painted on them survive underneath the brick. There wasnt the money to pay for things like clean streets. Until I think the name was Leon. MONDAY - FRIDAY. The Fat Hams hot chicken | Photo by Vanessa Beahn. I forget its name at the time, but it could have been Stacys Place.. Well regarded by the Oak Lane neighborhood, the current diner is at least the second to sit at that location. More often than not, the grill goes cold and a suburban chain moves in. I suppose the diner and billboards are merely *adjacent* to the graveyard, but it still makes for an odd juxtaposition. In 1980, this magazine called subway trains slums-on-wheels. Buses werent much better. If there are photos of this grand 1920s OMahony in its original setting, Id love to see them. The old benches, the ones without armrests in the middle, were wide and deep enough that homeless people could sleep on them. My parents bought a house on Rodman Street soon thereafter, and all the photos from my toddler days seem to show one neighbor or another lying flat on his back, with a big smile, obviously intoxicated by some natural plant. I dont want to step in dog waste, or walk 10 blocks before I can find a trash can. 2023 BygonelyPrivacy policyTerms of ServiceContact us. Vetri Cucina. Where else can you be greeted by name and your kids asked after? Alexanders transitioned into a new concept very successfully under that same family but the Oak Lane Diner was sold. Ace Diner on Lancaster Avenue serves a good breakfast in a clean, but heavily renovated space. In February, when Lonely Planet named Philadelphia the best U.S. travel destination for 2016, the city's tired reputation for cheesesteaks, Rocky movies, corruption, and blight-cliches of 1981 or thereabouts-seemed finally put to rest. What I wrote about Kabobeesh applies to the Penrose as well. run as a restaurant and morphing into fast fashion optical retailer Warby They ruled that neighborhood. My father and his partner owned the Domino Diner up until 1986. CLOSED NOW. Commissary, were expanding palates throughout the region with international The Dom was a hub for the area for a long time. They began showing up in every majorcity and small town across the Northeast. | About Us I sat and watched Hannah and Her Sisters in the theater at 19th and Chestnut and found a tiny fragment of a road map. The boy moved to New York, which was sad (according to my diary), but I miss the old TLA more. They have about four things available for lunch and two of them are a turkey club sandwich served either with bacon or turkey bacon. | Photo: Randy Garbin. Long gone, now. Who the hell cares. He said I didnt have the right name. But it was. home to a stuck-in-time, chrome and vinyl diner. One of the first major restaurant chains, it went public in 1961 with 605 . But problems with the logistics of the space and rent hikes got to be too much for the chef, whosstill got Paesanos, Monsu,and Heffe Tacos. Or we could go to Deluxe Diner for milkshakes; the Midtowns I through IV; one of the two Little Petes; or even R&W, which was kind of repulsive but good for private conversations in the empty back room. In fact, I miss all the movie theaters of my youth. Out of respect for the people who run and staff them, I never refer to diners as greasy spoons, but I revere any sign that the kitchen expresses a love of cooking. We were married for 27 years before he died too young of cancer. The boy I loved unrequited all through high school was on 21st and Delancey. "On our first visit to Philadelphia, my friend recommended we try Talula's Garden. Life unfolded there. (This suspicion of nice things began early.). Today, the Dining Car still keeps those traditional hours, but it attractscompany infewer and fewer numbers. Its a bygone era but those few diners that remain, I make it a point to eat in one of them when Im visiting my sisters and relatives. The Domino Diner facts were about 99% correct with the exception of the operating name at its original location in Medford, Massachusetts. Im sorry to inform you that it closed just last yearand has now been remodeled into an urgent care center! Garces Trading Co.Closed in: 2018Before beer and wine were in grocery stores around Philly, there was Garces Trading, a BYO witha then-exciting (and beautiful) wine cellar inside the restaurant, which specialized in gourmet goods and sandwiches with the celebrity chefs signature touch. For those At the same time, she hinted thathertaco cart might be back in some form in the future, so were holding out hope. From the New York Metro Area all the way down to D.C., andespecially in New Jersey, you still see them everywherethe expansive diner-restaurants with menus that seem to specialize in EVERY DISH EVER MADE! If you cant get it atone of these places you probably never heard of it anyway. That's what Bennigan's, an Irish-themed bar and grill, offered in the 1980s. Many of us went to preschool, elementary school and high school together. Philadelphias decline was well under way by the time I was born. Hard, uncomfortable seats, tables cleaned with the same hot tea you drank, long waits for . There are rats in Rittenhouse Square. Howard Johnson's is synonymous with 1950s and '60s dining. The big Greek-style diner still reigns supreme in the Northeast Corridor. Vetri, Philadelphia - photo by fougoo. For the most part, the Big Greek Diners all serve more or less the same thing. I am too an avid Diner lover tho. Up until about 1996 the Penrose was a spectacular example of quasi-Googie diner styling. But theres something about the national retail chains, about the people in teal, about the loss of diners and movie theaters in all their sticky-floored glory that makes me feel Center City has edged a bit too far toward the post-Giuliani NYC model of moneyed, sterilized urbanity. I WAS BORN AT Hahnemann Hospital in 1968, swaddled, and taken to a studio apartment, where I slept in a dresser drawer until the crib arrived. Back then, these were not only the primary vectors for graffiti, but had torn and broken seats and rusted poles. Most of the time contractors use them to cover up the roof-top air conditioning units and to add additional height for increased profile. Frisco BBQ restaurant raises $33K for boy with rare blood cancer . Charcoal House Nick Evlon 1836 Lovering Ave, Wilmington, DE 1973-1980s Closed Charlotte's Restaurant Jimmy Costalas 3207 W. Chester Pike, Newtown Sq., PA 1991-Present Operating . Inside, the owners have built in a private dining room, but split the rest of the space for open seating and waitress service. The pillars around the fountain were chipping, like teeth losing their enamel. To order the clip clean and hi-res or to find out more visit http://www.kinolibrary.com. Your email address will not be published. But greater food service regulation, rising food prices, increasing labor costs, and operator burnout further endanger these cultural iconsand once the doors close on these places they wont likely reopen assomething we identifyas a diner. | Photo: Randy Garbin. Wow! Sad on both counts. I have the original plans and zoning for the building. | Photo: Randy Garbin. Lets cut the nonsense, shall we? The diner offers a basic, no-frills menu. In Philly, it was hard to tell what adulthood was. Whether that was a sign of things to come with the celebrity chef Chifa waseventually replaced with Cuban diner Rosa Bianca, another concept that didnt take or it just opened a decade or so before its time, it would have been nice for Peruvian fare to take hold in the city back then. It is not a storefront. Finelli had two places, one on Tenth Street above Chestnut, and another on Chestnut east side of Broad. The Creed franchise is a child of the king of boxing films 1976's "Rocky" and its five sequels. Randy, thank you for acknowledging the Spice Grill located at 3447 Richmond Street in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia. Price $$$$$. Horn & Hardarts 54th & City Ave. | 818 Chestnut Twenty-four diners now operate in Philadelphia, down from 30 in 1990 when I first toured the city (Ive visited more than 1,000 across the country). Stenton Diner after rehearsals and shows at La Salle Music Theatre, eating liverwurst and Bermuda onion on a Kaiser roll way too lateoh, maybe a buttered toasted cinnamon bun and a cherry coke to wash it down. Dining Car & Market, 8826 Frankford Avenue, The sprawling Dining Car Diner look like an architectural version of B-9, the robot from Lost In Space.| Photo: Randy Garbin. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Unused Pre-1980 BOOKBINDERS RESTAURANT Philadelphia Pennsylvania PA v5934@ at the best online prices at eBay! | Photo: Michael Bixler. Meanwhile, the western blocks of South Street became a bustling African American shopping and entertainment strip. They live on in the form of dead Yelp pages and in our memories. For some reason that roll along the roofline became an extremely popular motif on retro-styled diners starting back in the mid-1990s. Contemporary Americansseem to prefer fast-casual chains (like Panera Bread) over diners, where you canget a pretty good meal for not a lot of money and you dont have to bother with aserver. McD's in Montreal used to as late as 1980 (and the Quarter Pounder could actually turn out medium rare ..)-bebopper. Up until then the food and service were great, and they had fantastic thick-cut bacon. Black-owned restaurants were especially numerous. Khyber Pass Pub. Randy, Thanks for acknowledging the original Oak Lane Diner which does in fact still exist in Newburgh, N.Y. Wildflowers Garden Restaurant & Thai Corner. cheeky menu full of gems like sweet n pungent pork Tahiti and barbecue Live in a walkable community. He currently works as an independent website developer and art director. The big DeRaffele diner featured soaring folded-plate roof line, expansive plate glass windows, and a space-age interior that restaurateurs in places like New York and San Francisco spend a small fortune to recreate. But Chifa was also the first Garces restaurant to falter, closing after four years in business. So why do I long for the old days? While a trained eye can often tell if a building was once a diner, you still need the photos to confirm it and just such a search from the comfort of my desk chair confirmed this find. . If you're a human and see this, please ignore it. Im not a fussy eater. Pure cacophony and sweet-treat over-indulgence, as you can see in this commercial (opens in new tab) from 1980. How would I find my way? Just dont ask him when the actual trolleys will return to the tracks on Germantown Avenue. Revolution House, but for 60-plus years, this Second and Market corner was Taco AngelenoClosed in: 2018West Phillys lack of great pizza and Mexican fare is widely acknowledged (hey, South Philly has tons of both and is just a quick ride over the Grays Ferry bridge). The more creative individuals in the restaurant business began to see that a diner didnt just have to be about meatloaf and brown gravy and it certainly didnt just have to appeal to truck drivers and middle America. Designed and constructed by Philadelphias own Len Davidson, the sign depicts an animated scene of a trolley car rolling, stopping, and dropping off a passenger. The best of them will serve you something that usually tops out at fair-to-good. There arent enough bike lanes. AS A PERSON WHO works in Center City and who writes about real estate and economic development I cant claim to be disappointed by downtowns success. graced the corner of 17th and Chancellor streets for nearly 40 years. The Kubach family, for whatever reason, apparently had a long-standing no photography policy in-or-outside of the diner. Theres little left to see inside its cave-like interior. While most of the damage occurred in the kitchen, the diner has seriously deteriorated after what looks like an outright abandonment. This diner is a perfect example ofwhy you do not want to become a diner aficionado. The third being the current location at 1501 Snyder Ave. Did anyone mention STENTON DINER? You wont leave hungry. So true. Shop on Main Street. The Golden Sword Diner is now a latin-themed night club. Originally part of the Pillsbury Corp., the restaurant was founded in 1976. a particularly damning review from Craig Laban, not even a change in ownership in 2012 could save the grand dame of Photograph: Courtesy Vetri. By Antonio Gardella. something of a Greek tragedy during its final days. * Close to CC - 6 Min cab from center cityl. yeah, they have food but, really I just love the atmosphere and the memories of being 18 long ago. The real estate developer Ken Weinstein loves Germantown Avenue. My friends dad picked us up in his car one day without any clothes on. Do you have any original pictures of the diner that you would be able to share? Joe was a veteran of the industry and had previously owned the Torresdale Diner just south of Academy Road and needed to expand. Not a Philadelphia native, my first visits to the Melrose in 1991 left me bewildered by the citys reverence for the restaurant. | Photo: Randy Garbin. The audience at this meeting of the Central Philadelphia Development Corp. laps it up. I guess he wasnt here in 1976, when KAP the Bicentennial Kid tagged the Art Museum and the Liberty Bell. Built in 1949 by Paramount to a standard of quality that no one else could match, it served in the 1990s as one of two American Diners in Philadelphia and was an attempt to upscale the traditional diner menu. 2400 Market St 4th Fl. . Then there were our parents, the incense vendors, all those hookers on Broad and on 13th, my Quaker teachers with the puzzling facial hair. For the sake of their preservation as an architectural form, I mostly concern myself mainly with prefabricated diners. where customers would insert coins and help themselves to a la carte plates I want a good meal at a reasonable price, but I also want to connect with actual peoplestaff and customers. On Market Street, between Seventh and Eighth Streets, is a block of buildings in the Renaissance Revival Victorian style. Italian. In the late 1970s, the Dewey's restaurants in Philadelphia began to fold, victims to competition from national fast food chains like . We knew every corner of each others homes, including whose Rittenhouse Square rooftop made for the best water-balloon launching pad. I want jobs and revenue and, yes, maybe digital signage, if thats what it takes to lure serious investment into more challenging parts of town. Today, I can get stopped at the doors of an upscale hotel or silently ejected from a fancy boutique with an icy glare. like something straight out of the Star Trek commissary. Our friend came out with big news: There was a baggie of cocaine in the room. 182059211. Open in Google Maps. Mostly latchkey kids, we stuck together after class ended. Hows the food? dining. But I think its also that we Center City kids of the 70s and early 80s enjoyed a lot of freedom in our comparatively down-at-its-heels, unmanicured downtown. last May, no late night in Rittenhouse Square was complete without a trip to this For many of us, home fries are a litmus test of the whole experience and every diner should make their own undeniably great version. It was great fun. a weekly basis, its worth taking a moment to pay homage to the restaurants Now demolished to make it a storage lot. Jim Clark: You must be referring to Port Richmonds long-standing Aramingo Diner. Good soups and lunch. It isnt a converted rail car. Disingenuousness aside, the Melrose earned a reputation for its baked goods and sterling service. Updated on Nov 18, 2019, 5:00 a.m. Stuccoed into obscurity at Annas. The diner takes its name from the company that built it. From the looks of things, it has also seen several makeovers, the last one happening a year ago, making any effort to detect original features futile. I was a student at Temple. Seen here in 1993 during a bus tour of the region's diners sponsored by the Society of Commercial Archeology, the sale of the 1940 Paramount attracted a great deal of interest, but ultimately no takers. Formerly known as Mil-Lees Luv-In, the diner did indeed have something of a hippie vibe during that era with its love beads and trippy menu graphics. Facebook/McGillin's Olde Ale House. The city does have some great Portuguese spots (Cafe Liz and Peruvian hybrid El Balconcito come to mind), but theyre all solidly in North or Northeast Philly. Italian roll could get their fix on Old York Road, and those who had the Fitler Square wasnt much better. Some like to compare diner builders to the more familiar auto industry, and some might designate OMahony as theChevroletof dinersa well-built, stylish diner without some of the features or decorative flourish found in its competitors,likeParamount or Fodero.
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